Throughout The Old Man in the Sea Santiago, an old fisherman who lives a simple life has to overcome a variety of obstacles. Not unlike the normal everyday person. He has extraordinary strength for a man with 85 years behind him. A great majority of Santiago’s obstacles have been because of physical boundaries. Hemingway, the author, describes these obstacles in a simple yet effective way, which makes the novella even more enticing.
One obstacle that Santiago is forced to face is that his left hand began to cramp. As I stated, Santiago is an 85 year old man and holding onto a fish twice the size of his boat. The last thing he needs is for his hands to cramp up. As the book states, “He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand cramped. It drew up tight on the heavy cord and he looked at it in disgust.”(58) At this point of the story he’s had the fish on the line for several hours, and is in too deep to let go of the line. He doesn’t want to disappoint the boy and the other fishermen at shore, so he must try to push through the pain and bring in the fish. He seems to be annoyed with the cramp, because it says that he’s disgusted with his hand.
Another obstacle that Santiago must boast is his lack of supplies. Santiago goes out to sea with nothing but a fishing rod and of course his skiff. This is surprising considering that Santiago has many years of experience at sea. “You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man” (110). He should have brought salt and different seasons, because after he ate his plain food, he would feel nauseous. Also, he should have taken a rock so he could have sharpened his knife as a better defense to fight the sharks that attacked his skiff.
Towards the latter parts of the story, Santiago has to protect himself against the sharks. By this time, he has pulled in the marlin, and the sharks want to feed off of them. For over a day, sharks attacked the prized fish, and Santiago did not have the proper weapons to defend himself. They tired him, and took a large portion of the fish. “‘They beat me Manolin,’ he said. ‘They truly beat me.’’’ (124). This quote shows how he had trouble against the sharks, but was still able to persevere and make it home.
When Santiago goes out on what could be his final fishing trip, many obstacles slowed him down. But with great patience and perseverance, he was able to push through them. His hand cramped which could have caused him to lose the line, and with his lack of supplies, he couldn’t eat much, or help protect himself. Finally even when sharks attacked his boat, Santiago persevered, and got home. If Santiago was not so wise from experience at sea, he probably could have lost the marlin, or even died. I think without these obstacles in the story the book would have been very different, and Santiago would not have changed as greatly throughout
Throughout The Old Man in the Sea 
11:52 AM
Mr. B-G
4 comments:
I "Throughout The Old Man in the Sea Santiago, an old fisherman who lives a simple life has to overcome a variety of obstacles." is the thesis sttement. It is very clear consise, and focused. It is engaging because it is the very first sentence.
II I think that all the quotes are stong, but If I had to choose, i would say “You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man” (110) is the strongest. Not only is it incorperated well, but it stood out because I had been looking for a quote like this for my essay, but didn't find it. Good eyes!
III This essay does a lot of things well, amung them advanced vocab, good word use (like "Towards the latter parts of the story, Santiago has to protect himself against the sharks. "), good sentence structure, and good quotes, which make it very engaging.
IV I can't find any major prolems, although the very second sentence was a bit confusing with the third. I had to reread it for it to make sense. That's about it.
Ryan,
Your opening thesis statement was very direct, and to the point. “Throughout The Old Man in the Sea Santiago, an old fisherman who lives a simple life has to overcome a variety of obstacles.” After the thesis, I like how you put your voice into the writing to make it interesting. I think that the quote from the second paragraph, “As the book states, “He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand cramped. It drew up tight on the heavy cord and he looked at it in disgust.”(58) Was the best because I like all of the details you incorporated around the quote to make your thought clear. The strongest point in your writing was probably the details you put in and the word choice. You used a very wide range of vocabulary that made your piece stand out to me. I think you wrote everything correctly, so I don’t have anything to recommend for next time :)
Ryan,
I think you did a great job on your essay. Your thesis was very clear that it was about the obstacles that Santiago tries to overcome. What I liked about your introduction was how you described him and how he isn't like any ordinary fisherman. “He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand cramped. It drew up tight on the heavy cord and he looked at it in disgust.”(58)This was my favorite quote because Santiago never trusted his left hand and it is one of his challenges that it's not as good as its right. What I liked the most was your use of vocabulary. "But with great patience and perseverance, he was able to push through them." It made the essay more intreging to read. I didn't see any mistakes when I read it. Great Job!
Ryan, great job on your essay but you got the title wrong it is the Old Man And The Sea .LOL I thought you thesis statement was very clear and I could deffidently tell what the essay was going to be about. i do not think i had a favorite quote because i liked how you encorporated them into the story. one thing i would say to improve on would be to reread your essay at the very end. otherwise i thougth your essay was great. nice job!
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